A Moment to Reconnect: Resources during Self-Quarantine

In today’s fast moving world it seems as though we are always rushing from one task to the next. Yet, recent events have brought everything to a halt, suspended in mid-air. Even New York City - the city that never sleeps - is hibernating. We are forced from a culture of hustle and socializing into a lifestyle of self-quarantine and social distancing. As everything around us shuts down or implements necessary restrictions, we must embrace the sudden change of pace: to relax and move with the flow of our lives and not against it.

“If there were ever a time to re-energize, reconnect with your willingness to sit with yourself, care for yourself - it could be now,” says Adriene Mishler, host of the beloved Youtube channel: Yoga with Adriene, in a live-stream video. “Yoga with Adriene” has become a community of love and support, a family. “If you fall, we will catch you,” Adriene says in one of her practices, and she means it.

Every Sunday, Adriene emails her subscribers a “love letter,” and last Sunday was the first time we were able to experience her love letter live. That day, thousands of viewers from all over the world tuned in to connect with Adriene and her noble steed (her dog Benji) in real time.

It was a beautiful reminder that we are never alone and we have resources - more than we think.

She emphasized the importance of self-discipline and nurturing the right thoughts.

“Sometimes, you nurture the wrong things, get flipped upside down, from the front, to the middle and back again - only to remember the power of your thoughts, your words and the way in which they align with your leading heart. Use your tools. Uncover what works. Pay attention to what doesn’t. Lean into the quiet time and learn to love all parts of yourself,” Adriene reminded us.

Lean into the quiet: To me, that means to see the beauty in this time, in this solitude - to get comfortable in the discomfort of being alone.

Reconnecting can mean something different for all of us.

For me, it was reuniting my breath with my movements during my home yoga practice and finding complete stillness. It was watching classics like “Jerry Maguire” and “You’ve Got Mail” with my family, laughing together at the absurdity of life. It was being engrossed in a book, without time constraints. It was video-chatting with my best friends, goofing around, keeping each other sane.

But reconnecting can also be a mindset. It is learning to just be. To let go. To slow down. To reflect and reset. To allow ourselves this break without feeling guilty, without feeling like we are wasting or losing time.

To do everything or nothing.

To immerse in what we love and to not take anything for granted. To appreciate this extra time we have with our families.

It is a moment to reconnect, with whatever you choose to. So, why not turn it into a positive and restorative experience?

In this time of uncertainty, let us find calmness in connection. Let us find the edge in our work: the balance between effort and ease, challenge and surrender. Let us create a practice of self-care that will lift us as a community.

Resources:

Listen to free Audible Stories: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

Use Netflix Party to watch movies as a group, digitally: https://www.netflixparty.com/

Take an Ivy-League class for free: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ivy-league-free-online-courses-a0d7ae675869/

Check out Yoga with Adriene’s Playlist for Uncertain Times: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLui6Eyny-Uzy-b0MKzL2EfaTqB0ppgK06

Try a Core Power Yoga class: https://www.corepoweryogaondemand.com/keep-up-your-practice

Watch a beautiful virtual concert: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/816504058/a-list-of-live-virtual-concerts-to-watch-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown

Download a meditation app and start your free trial: https://www.heromovement.net/blog/free-guided-meditation-resources/

Start your 14-day free trial and take an art class: https://shop.mybluprint.com/drawing/classes/drawing-facial-features/35374

Take a virtual tour of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam:

https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/

Additional free resources and activities for kids & adults: https://www.theidearoom.net/free-online-activities/